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Rainy Monday, Yeah!
Sep. 19th, 2011 09:39 amYeah, I know it's not normal to be excited about a rainy Monday, although it's the rain that's got me excited. The rain is reducing airborne mold and pollen, which is helping my allergies. The Monday, well, it's a Monday. On to actual content:
The Post Office
So, as you may have heard, the USPS is looking at a $9 billion operating deficit, and talking about things like cutting Saturday mail and closing post offices. What you haven't heard is that, in 2006, the lame-duck Congress passed the Postal Accountability Act, which required the USPS to pre-fund all retiree's health care for 75 years! That's right, pre-fund for people not even born yet. They had, starting in 2006, 10 years to accomplish that. This costs the USPS something like $5 billion a year. Changing that will go a very long way to fixing the deficit problem.
Jobs
So, according to Forbes Magazine, being an IT director is one of the 10 Most Hated Jobs. I am an IT director, and personally I like my job very much.
Health Care and "Compassionate Conservatism"
So, according to the Des Moines Register, Obamacare saves woman's life. Prior to Obamacare's passage, she had a lifetime benefit cap of $1 million on health care. Then she got sick, and burned through that. Thanks to Obamacare, she got paid, got healthy, and didn't go bankrupt.
That article segues nicely into this article which argues that there ain't no such thing as 'compassionate conservatism'. I agree with it entirely, but the key point is this:
[On the argument that private charities can and will provide for people who can't take care of themselves] The numbers don’t add up. Given the actual costs of catastrophic illness, to take just one calamity that can afflict people, a given church or community association can only support so much of any one person’s affliction, let alone many members.
The Post Office
So, as you may have heard, the USPS is looking at a $9 billion operating deficit, and talking about things like cutting Saturday mail and closing post offices. What you haven't heard is that, in 2006, the lame-duck Congress passed the Postal Accountability Act, which required the USPS to pre-fund all retiree's health care for 75 years! That's right, pre-fund for people not even born yet. They had, starting in 2006, 10 years to accomplish that. This costs the USPS something like $5 billion a year. Changing that will go a very long way to fixing the deficit problem.
Jobs
So, according to Forbes Magazine, being an IT director is one of the 10 Most Hated Jobs. I am an IT director, and personally I like my job very much.
Health Care and "Compassionate Conservatism"
So, according to the Des Moines Register, Obamacare saves woman's life. Prior to Obamacare's passage, she had a lifetime benefit cap of $1 million on health care. Then she got sick, and burned through that. Thanks to Obamacare, she got paid, got healthy, and didn't go bankrupt.
That article segues nicely into this article which argues that there ain't no such thing as 'compassionate conservatism'. I agree with it entirely, but the key point is this:
[On the argument that private charities can and will provide for people who can't take care of themselves] The numbers don’t add up. Given the actual costs of catastrophic illness, to take just one calamity that can afflict people, a given church or community association can only support so much of any one person’s affliction, let alone many members.
